Virus Hunters: Mice & El Nino

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They’re small, tricky to find and changing all the time. And they’re among the largest threats in nature to our health. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Hunting for new viruses that might be dangerous to humans has a full-time job for scientists. Terry Yates is the Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Mexico. He works on tracing the origins of viruses, like the deadly 1993 outbreak of the Hanta virus in the Southwest. Dr. Yates says that his team quickly discovered that the virus was being carried by rodents. But this was only the first step in learning how the virus circulated the way it did.

“Well, why 1993? Why was there an outbreak then and not in ’91 or ’89? What was different about 1993 was this particular rodent, the deer mouse was existing in huge numbers in 1993, compared to previous years. And we found out that basically what has happened was that the fuse or the time bomb was set off by El Nino. And what happens in the American southwest when there’s an El Nino, is that it increases the early spring precipitation. That triggers a plant response and so we get a bloom of certain kinds of plants that just happen to be food sources for these rodents. And so basically, two years after the original input of moisture into the environment, we have an explosion of rodents. And so it takes climate change or climate fluctuation, which triggers a plant response, which triggers a rodent response, which triggers an outbreak of the virus in the rodent population, which then increases human risk for contracting the virus.”

Yates and others are working to put together a huge “tree of life” that includes the family trees of all plant and animal species. With such a tool at their disposal, scientists believe they could have an even better chance at catching up with viruses. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation.
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Virus Hunters: Mice & El Nino

Beware of rodents and bad weather!
Air Date:12/06/2005
Scientist:
Transcript:

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They're small, tricky to find and changing all the time. And they’re among the largest threats in nature to our health. I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet. Hunting for new viruses that might be dangerous to humans has a full-time job for scientists. Terry Yates is the Vice Provost for Research at the University of New Mexico. He works on tracing the origins of viruses, like the deadly 1993 outbreak of the Hanta virus in the Southwest. Dr. Yates says that his team quickly discovered that the virus was being carried by rodents. But this was only the first step in learning how the virus circulated the way it did.

"Well, why 1993? Why was there an outbreak then and not in ’91 or '89? What was different about 1993 was this particular rodent, the deer mouse was existing in huge numbers in 1993, compared to previous years. And we found out that basically what has happened was that the fuse or the time bomb was set off by El Nino. And what happens in the American southwest when there’s an El Nino, is that it increases the early spring precipitation. That triggers a plant response and so we get a bloom of certain kinds of plants that just happen to be food sources for these rodents. And so basically, two years after the original input of moisture into the environment, we have an explosion of rodents. And so it takes climate change or climate fluctuation, which triggers a plant response, which triggers a rodent response, which triggers an outbreak of the virus in the rodent population, which then increases human risk for contracting the virus."

Yates and others are working to put together a huge "tree of life" that includes the family trees of all plant and animal species. With such a tool at their disposal, scientists believe they could have an even better chance at catching up with viruses. Pulse of the Planet is made possible by the National Science Foundation.
music